I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of garbage sorting machinery and methods. More particularly, it is a mobile garbage recycling system with rapid sorting means that can be moved wherever its operation is most advantageous at a landfill site or moved to different landfill sites.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Studies indicate that the general public does not sort their garbage thoroughly or accurately enough to be reliable for recycling and landfill uses. Whether garbage, referred to generally as municipal solid waste and abbreviated as MSW, is discarded in bags or loose in refuse bins, it still must be resorted. The cost of resorting public sorted MSW is nearly as great as though it had not been sorted. Even if sorted accurately and thoroughly by the general public, more human time and costs are required for the consumer public to sort their MSW than for sorting it with this invention. Economically, therefore, it is more advantageous to charge the consumer public for having their garbage sorted for recycling and landfilling than to impose this burden on them. In addition, the MSW sorted with this invention can be sold at higher prices for recycling, for landfill, for fertilizer and in some cases, for fuel. Use of this invention can achieve benefit to our environment and eliminate MSW disposal costs to the public.
A variety of MSW sorting equipment and systems have been devised. None, however, have been efficient enough to render MSW sorting for recovery at a landfill or dump site more economical than for the consumer public to sort it and deposit it in separate bags for municipal collection. One problem with previous MSW recovery equipment has been its fixed site construction. Another problem has been the requirement to transport MSW various distances from portions of sites to the stationary equipment for reworking old dump sites. Another problem has been low efficiency of the sorting means. For example, a solid waste sorting method described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,977 issued to W. C. Roman on Apr. 7, 1992 required use of expensive equipment which would fill a large two-story building. Different from this invention, the machinery it described could not be transported to different landfill sites. It was not mobile. A steeply inclined conveyor belt had vertically upstanding "flites", presumably prong-like or hook-like appendages, which allowed selective passage of objects between them for a sorting function. A screened trammel provided additional size sorting. Further different from this invention, its methods employed steps which included use of the flites and use of air separation. U.S Pat. No. 5,116,486, granted to D. A. Pederson on May 26, 1992 also described a waste separator that was expensive because it was large and stationary, rather than mobile and economical as taught by this invention. All other known waste sorting equipment and methods also are stationary rather than portable and mobile in a manner taught by this invention.